New Zealand fresh produce demand is on the rise from the UAE’s F&B sector including hotels, retail outlets and restaurants, revealed New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) – the country’s trade arm.

NZTE highlighted how Kiwi products are becoming more popular with the nation’s leading chefs, retailers and restaurateurs with a 16.6% increase in 2012 exports to the UAE over 2011.

“The United Arab Emirates is among our top destinations to which Kiwi food exporters market their produce,” said Steve Jones, New Zealand Consul General and Trade Commissioner for Middle East and Africa.

“New Zealand’s F&B production is a high-value, high-growth industry, which draws strength from the country’s clean pristine environment with world leading taste and quality standards and is in high demand by countries like the UAE where discerning consumers expect the very best,” he added.

New Zealand is one of only two countries to export more than half of its total food production and is the largest exporter in the world of dairy products and lamb and a major supplier of beef, kiwifruit, apples and seafood.

The dairy industry is New Zealand’s biggest export earner accounting for one third of the international dairy trade. The country is also the world’s largest exporter of milk and second-largest of cheese.

“With over 75 New Zealand companies based in the UAE who sell our products, New Zealand ingredients are becoming increasingly popular among retail outlets, hotels and restaurants,” explained Jones.

“Our products and produce are known to be healthy as New Zealand sits in the world’s temperate zone and, as such, boasts an abundance of unspoiled arable land,” continued Jones.

“Add to this New Zealand’s established reputation for high-quality food products, world-leading agricultural know-how and enviable record for food safety, and you have a nation poised to play a key role in maintaining global food supply due to the population explosion where food scarcity is of critical concern,” he concluded.

To practically highlight the importance of New Zealand ingredients, NZTE is organizing the Taste New Zealand Chef Competition where over 60 chefs get creative with New Zealand produce that they can now find in the UAE.

The winning chef, chosen from 10 finalists on 27 April at Jumeirah Group’s Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, gets to visit New Zealand and see for himself how the products are grown, harvested and prepared for their clients.